The X-Files (1993–…): Season 2, Episode 4 - Sleepless - full transcript

...we can expect mild weather

along the Atlantic Seaboard.

And here's Max with his report.

Well, Deborah, stock prices fell

for the third consecutive
session today

amid continued worries about

the prospect
of higher interest rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average
fell almost 14h points to 3,837,

bringing the blue-chip index's
losses over the last three days

to just under a hundred points.

911 operator. Police emergency.



This Dr. Saul Grissom.

There's a fire outside
my apartment. I'm trapped!

Are you at 700 East 56th Street?

Yes. Apartment 606.

For God's sakes, hurry!

Fire units are being...

Somebody help!

Help!

That's right.

Please keep
moving, sir.

I don't see smoke anywhere.

Get a crew up to the roof!

This is Lieutenant Regan.

We have a possible 2-3
false alarm at apartment 606.



Let's confirm that location.
606.

Yes, that's affirmative. 606.

It's cold. Let's do it!

I'll check the bedroom.

He looks dead.

Nothing here.

911 operator. Police emergency.

This is Dr. Saul Grissom.

There's a fire outside
my apartment. I'm trapped!

Are you at 700 East 56th Street?

Yes. Apartment 606.
For God's sakes, hurry!

Fire units are being
dispatched right now, sir.

Please stay on the line.

The article
makes no mention of a fire.

Yes, Agent Mulder, I can read.

Grissom's company had a number
of government contracts,

which would place
this investigation

within the Bureau's
jurisdiction.

But that's not why
you want the assignment.

I think that the circumstances
surrounding Grissom's death

warrant a closer look.

I called NYPD,
but they won't even talk to me

unless you get the attorney
general to sign off on it.

Where'd you get the tape?

Presumably, someone has
led you to believe

there's more here
than is being reported.

My source--

the only one I've ever trusted--
is dead.

I'll look into this further
and, uh... let you know.

In the meantime,
you have

24 hours of wiretap tape
that need to be transcribed.

You coming over or what?

You said you was coming over
two hours ago,

and I'm waiting here
like some stupid bimbo

who ain't got nothing better
to do with...

...waiting here
like some stupid bimbo

who ain't got nothing better
to do with my time

than just sit around
and wait for someone like you.

Agent Mulder.

Now, come on, you said...

Yeah.

It's your 302.

Assistant Director Skinner
just approved it.

There's a mistake here.

There's been another agent
assigned to the case.

That would be me.

Krycek. Alex Krycek.

Skinner didn't say anything
about taking on a partner.

It wasn't Skinner.

Actually, I opened the file
two hours before your request,

so technically,
it's-it's my case.

And you already
talked to the police?

Yep. Just hung up
on the officer in charge

a few minutes ago.

Detective named...

Horton.

Turns out, Grissom called 911
to report a fire.

I heard the tape.

Did you hear
that forensics found

a spent fire extinguisher
on the floor?

Grissom's prints
were all over it.

The walls and floor
in his living room

were covered
with ammonium phosphate.

But no trace of fire.

Not even a burnt match.

Is that all you know?

Yeah. So far.

What do you think it means?

Listen, I appreciate
the show-and-tell,

and I don't want you
to take this personally,

but I work alone.

I'll straighten things out
with Skinner.

It's my case, Agent Mulder.

Look... I may be green,

but I had the case first,

and I'm not gonna
give it away so quickly.

All right, I'll tell you what.

I got some work
to finish up around here.

Why don't you go down
to the motor pool

and requisition us a car,

and I'll-I'll meet you
down there.

That's all?

I mean, y-you don't
have a problem

with us working together?

It's your party.

I'll, um...

I'll get the car.

Electrocution affects

electrolytic conduction,
disrupting the heartbeat

and most of the
autonomic systems.

Death actually occurs
from tissue damage--

necrosis in the heart itself--

particularly in the sinus
and atrioventricular nodes.

Agent Scully?

Sorry to interrupt, but you
have a call from a George Hale.

Says it's urgent.

Excuse me.

Where are you?

National Airport.

Catching the shuttle up to
LaGuardia in about half an hour.

How do you feel about joining me
in the Big Apple for an autopsy?

What's going on?

I was hoping you could tell me.

I can't do it today; my last
class isn't over until 4:30.

That's fine. I can have the M.E.
wrap the body to go.

- Mulder...
- You'll get it by 5:00.

What's the name?

Dr. Grissom's
alpha wave analysis

defined the standard.

It revolutionized the way
we think about sleep.

His death is a tremendous loss
to the scientific community.

How many other kinds of
sleep disorder did he treat?

There are 38 different
dyssomnias and parasomnias.

Dr. Grissom
treated them all

with an unprecedented
success ratio.

Maintaining that kind
of batting average

must have taken
its toll.

Excellence demands
certain sacrifices.

Did he ever show any signs
of psychological stress?

Not really, except for his own
occasional bout of insomnia.

But he was never delusional?

Of course not.

What's his story?

This patient's
night terrors

prevent him from cycling
out of REM sleep

into the more restful
slow wave sleep.

It's still experimental,
but what we're trying to do

is modify his brain wave
patterns externally.

How do you do that?

Electrical stimulation

of the occipital lobe

creates simple visual
and auditory hallucinations.

So it's actually possible
to alter somebody's dreams?

In theory, yes.

I paid off your cab.

I don't appreciate being ditched
like someone's bad date.

Sorry if I hurt
your feelings.

Where do you get off
copping this attitude?

I mean, you don't know
the first thing about me.

Exactly.

You know,
back at the academy,

some of the guys
used to make fun of you.

Oh, stop it, or you're
gonna hurt my feelings.

Some of us
followed your work,

believed what you were doing
because we knew there was more

out there than
they were telling us.

Yeah?

Dr. Grissom didn't die
from cardiac arrest.

Well, what is it?

I think you should come back

up here and take
a look for yourself.

I haven't even started on
the chest and the abdomen yet,

and I'll have a lot more
to tell you then.

I can make it in two hours.

Where we going?

Spleen or pancreas?

Stomach. I was just
about to start on it.

Oh, uh, this is Alex Krycek.

We're working
the case together.

Good to meet you.

You, too.

Notice the pugilistic
attitude of the corpse.

This condition generally occurs
several hours after death.

It's caused by a coagulation
of muscle proteins

when the body is exposed to
extremely high temperatures.

Like fire?

This degree of limb flexion
is observed exclusively

in burn-related victims.

But there was no fire.

And no epidermal burns
to indicate as much.

But when I opened up
the skull,

I found extradural hemorrhages,

which can only be caused
by intense heat.

Somehow, this man suffered
all of the secondary

but none of the primary
physiological responses

to having been in a fire.

Any theories?

I can't even begin
to explain

what could have caused
something like this.

I mean,
it's almost as if...

What?

As if his body believed
that it was burning.

...starburst, sapphire

and cubic zirconia baguettes
all in a 14-karat gold band.

Now, normally,
this ring retails for $1,350.

Well, I think it'd be
a value at $900.

I saw it in a big
department store last week...

...for $1,000,
but you are not going to believe

what we are offering it
to you for.

$677. I mean,
isn't that wonderful?

You left your
door open, Willig.

Preacher?

Not a good idea
leaving your door open

in this neighborhood.

You never know
who's gonna drop by.

Damn. What are you doing here?

How long you been in town?

Not long.

Want a beer?

How you doing, Henry?

Huh? Huh?

How you been?

How am I doing?

I'm, uh...

trying to forget.

You know, I'm trying to get it
out of my head.

No luck, huh?

I'm, uh...

still fighting it, you know?

I keep seeing the faces.

Every day, I see...

Ah, what's the difference?

We're all going to hell, right?

Where do you think we've
been the last 24 years?

After this, wherever he sends
us is gonna seem like...

like a Hawaiian vacation.

What do you want here,
Preacher?

You killed him, didn't you?

You killed Grissom.

I saw it on TV.

He had to pay, Henry.

All of us have to
answer for what we...

did over there.

We can't get away from it.

No.

He retains
not his anger forever,

because he
delights in mercy.

He will turn again.

He will have
compassion on us.

He will subdue our
iniquities, Henry.

And he will cast all our sins
into the depths of the sea.

It's all right, Henry.

It's all over now.

Victim's name was Henry Willig--

unemployed, lived on disability.

Police found no indication
of forced entry or struggle.

No abrasions or contusions
or trace evidence on the body.

And cause of death

is being listed as...
burst aneurysm.

So why did your friend
from Homicide call us?

Because the medical
examiner called him.

The autopsy revealed

43 small internal hemorrhages
and skeletal fragments,

which doesn't just
happen spontaneously,

not without some kind of
corresponding external trauma.

What does the M.E.
have to say about it?

He said
if he didn't know otherwise,

he'd swear
they were gunshot wounds.

What's this scar
right here?

According to
his medical history,

the only surgery he ever
had was an appendectomy.

Unless they got to his appendix
through his neck...

Maybe it happened in Vietnam.

Willig did a tour
with the Marines in 1970.

And I'm sure they didn't
keep the best records.

Willig was a Marine?

So where do all Marines
receive basic training

on the East Coast?

Parris Island?

Where Grissom was stationed
from 1968 to 1971.

Which means that he and Willig
were there at the same time,

24 years ago.

Here we go.

Willig was assigned

to Special Force
and Recon Squad J-7.

Of 13 original members,
he's one of two survivors.

Until yesterday.

Which leaves us
with one person

who can tell us what
happened at Parris Island.

I've been supervising
Mr. Cole's treatment

since I admitted him
12 years ago.

I'm afraid you won't find him
very cooperative, though.

We just want to ask him
a few questions

about his military service.

He doesn't respond very well
to authority figures.

Is that why you put him
in isolation?

We've had to house Mr. Cole
in this section of the ward

because he
was interfering

with our treatment
of the other patients.

How was he interfering?

He was disrupting
their sleep patterns.

Psychiatric patients
especially, it's critical

that the circadian cycles
be strictly maintained.

Excuse me, but exactly how
would Cole disrupt their sleep?

Here we are.

Mr. Cole,

there's some
gentlemen here to...

You discharged him two days ago.

I most certainly did not.

Don't you think
I'd remember if I did?

Well, I was on shift, Doctor,

and you signed
the order yourself.

That is your
signature, isn't it?

Let's get Cole's face
out on the wire.

Mulder.

Mr. Mulder,
I've obtained information

that might shed some light
on your current work.

But you must exercise discretion
when we meet.

If anyone follows you,
I won't be there.

Who are you?

Who I am is irrelevant.

Why are you trying to help me?

You think I want to be here,
Agent Mulder?

I don't want to be here.

What is this?

Data from a top-secret
military project,

born of the idea that sleep
is the soldier's greatest enemy.

Grissom was conducting
sleep deprivation experiments

on Parris Island.

Not deprivation-- eradication.

Why?

Why else?

To build a better soldier.

Sustained wakefulness dulls
fear, heightens aggression.

Science had just put
a man on the moon.

So they looked to science
to win a losing war.

And Willig and Cole
were the lab rats.

Lab rats with the highest
kill ratio in the Marine Corps.

4,000-plus confirmed kills
for a 13-man squad.

And you think Cole's behind
what's happening now?

I'm not here to do
your thinking, Agent Mulder.

All I know is Augustus Cole
hasn't slept in 24 years.

There's someone else
you should see--

another member of the squad

who was reportedly
killed in action.

I thought Cole was the last.

His name is on
the envelope.

How do I contact you?

- You can't.
- I may need more.

You still don't get it, do you?

Closing the X Files,
separating you and Scully

was only the beginning.

The truth is still out there.

But it's never been
more dangerous.

The man we both knew

paid for that information
with his life--

a sacrifice
I'm not willing to make.

Where were you?

Someone matching
Cole's description

just robbed
a drugstore in Queens,

and police located him in
a motel around the corner.

Is he alive?

He was when the night manager
saw him.

So where were you?

Detective Horton!

I'm Agent Krycek.
This is Agent Mulder.

I been waiting
for you guys.

I tried holding
the SWAT guys back,

but they're getting
a little antsy.

Whatever it's worth,
Cole didn't steal dime one

from that drugstore,
just a bunch of pills.

Hold it! Freeze!

Inside now!

Officer down!

We got two officers down,
both critical.

Request emergency
vehicles immediately.

Roger.
I copy on your officers down.

Paramedics request.

We'll contact and advise.

What's going on
here, Mulder?

These two officers--
they shot each other.

Also described in the
report is a highly experimental

neurosurgical procedure
designed to induce

a permanent waking state.

The procedure involved

cutting part of the brain stem
in the midpontile region,

which would explain
Henry Willig's scar.

A similar scar should also
be evident on Augustus Cole.

Post-op treatment included

a regimen of synthetic
supplements to replenish

the organic deficits caused by
prolonged lack of sleep.

This is consistent
with the anti-depressants

Cole robbed from the pharmacy.

These drugs maintain serotonin
levels in the blood--

serotonin being
the primary substance

produced during sleep.

While it is theoretically
possible that this procedure

greatly diminished
the subject's need for sleep,

I can neither quantify
nor substantiate its success

without further
clinical evidence.

Scully.

The second officer is still
in a coma, so I don't think

we can count on him
to tell us what happened.

I'm going over
these reports you faxed me.

They're incredible.

Well, the military
already sent troops

through radioactive
mushroom clouds.

I guess they figured they had to
top themselves, right?

Sleep eradication
still doesn't explain

the shooting
of those two officers

or anomalous autopsy results

on Willig and Dr. Grissom.

Well, I learned something
at Grissom's clinic

about what happens
to a person's cortex

when you stimulate it
with electricity.

They experience mild visual
and auditory hallucinations.

Any first-year med student
can tell you that.

Well, what if that stimulus were
to come from a remote source?

What if Cole has somehow
developed the ability

to project his unconscious?

Are you suggesting

that Cole killed those people
with telepathic images?

Well, think about it, Scully.

In all those years
without REM sleep,

maybe Cole built a bridge

between the waking world
and the dream world--

the collective unconscious.

What if by existing consciously
in the unconscious world,

he's-he's developed the ability

to externalize his dreams
and effectively alter reality?

Even if you're right,

you'll have a much better
chance of finding Cole

if you work up a profile

and try and surmise
his next move.

All right.

I'll sharpen my pencils,
and I'll see you later.

I'll be right
there, Krycek.

Where are you going?

We're gonna check on
another member of the squad,

see if he can tell us
something about Cole.

Sounds like your new partner
is working out.

He's all right; he could use

a little more seasoning
and some, uh, wardrobe advice,

but he's a lot more open
to extreme possibilities than...

Than I was?

...than I assumed he would be.

Must be nice not having someone
questioning your every move,

poking holes
in all your theories?

Oh, oh, yeah, it-it's great.

I'm surprised I put up
with you for so long.

You better go.

I'll, uh, read over
this report again

and see what else
I can come up with.

Okay.

Later, Sal.

Salvatore Matola?

Are you here to shoot me?

You gonna kill me?

No, we're with the FBI.

We just wanted to ask
you some questions.

Why did you think
we were here to kill you?

I don't know.

You know about
Willig and Grissom, huh?

I read about it in the paper.

I figured they were
finally killing us all off.

Who?

Hey, Sal, can you spare
a few minutes?

Yeah, I guess so.

I got a break coming up.

Spare a few minutes, I guess.

They said it'd be like
living two lifetimes.

And that... at first,
that-that's what it was like.

Not having to sleep and all

made us feel like nothing
could touch us, you know?

Uh, we'd do 24-hour patrols,
night ambushes,

you know,
that type of thing.

And you never got tired?

No.

Not so that we had to sleep.

And then, nothing that
the pills couldn't fix.

Serotonin?

Yeah.

How long did this go on?

Quite a while, I'd say.

Quite a while, until...

we stopped taking orders from
company commander in Saigon.

The entire squadron
went AWOL?

Yeah. Something like that.

Well, then who did you
take orders from?

We didn't.

We just made up missions
as we went along,

until it didn't matter anymore
who... who we were killing.

Farmers, women.

Outside of Phu Bai,
there was this... school,

and, uh...

They were just kids.

No one ever tried to stop you?

No, sir.

We suspect Augustus Cole
may be behind the murders

of Willig and Grissom.

You mean Preacher?

That's-that's what
we used to call him,

on account of he was always
reading from his Bible.

You know, saying this and that
about Judgment Day.

Saying that one day,

we were gonna have to pay
for what we were doing.

That's-that's... what he said
back then.

That's-that's what he'd say.

But why Grissom?

He was never in country,

he wasn't even
part of the squadron.

Sure, he was.

He made us what we are.

Him and Dr. Girardi.

Who's Dr. Girardi?

The other doc on the project.

The one who did
the surgeries on us.

It's because of him that...

I haven't slept a night
in 24 years.

I'm still not clear

why you think Cole
will go after Girardi.

Cole sees himself as
a kind of avenging angel.

In his mind,

everyone responsible
for the atrocities,

whether directly or indirectly,
must be punished.

Yeah, but why now?

Why-why after all these years?

Phu Bai was one of the bloodiest
massacres of the war.

Over 300 children
slaughtered.

But unlike My Lai, no U.S.
troops were ever charged.

24th anniversary of the
massacre was two days ago.

Mulder.

I think I found the Francis
Girardi you're looking for.

He's a Professor of Neurosurgery
at Harvard.

Do you have his
number in Boston?

Yes, except he's coming to
New York for Grissom's funeral.

When?

Tonight. He's arriving at
Bronx Station on the 7:30 train.

Well, try to have a photograph
waiting for us

at the security desk, so we know
who we're looking for, okay?

Got it.

Mulder, FBI.
You got a photo for me?

Right here.

Stay here. I'll cover
the other side.

Federal agent!

Drop your weapon!

Drop it!

Mulder?

You all right?

Girardi! Where is he?

Girardi's not here.

No, I saw him.

He was...

Mulder!

You were shouting
and waving your gun around,

but Girardi never showed.

No. Girardi was here,
and so was Cole.

We just missed them.

Mulder, if they'd been here,
I would've seen them.

I'm telling you, Mulder,
they-they weren't here.

Okay, there's nothing here,

so let's rewind the tape.

Start with a small window
of time-- say, 19:35 to 19:45.

If you don't find anything
within that time frame,

then open it up
one minute at a time.

With all these cameras, we
should be able to see something.

Can we talk
for a second?

What's the problem?

Well, you still haven't
answered my question,

about what happened.

I told you,
I thought I saw Girardi.

Ah, come on, you just about
killed someone back there.

And we both know
I'm covering for you

by keeping it
between us.

All right.
What do you want to know?

Just the truth.

There's things you're not
telling me that I need to know.

It's just that my ideas
usually aren't very popular.

I told you,
I want to believe.

But I need a
place to start.

I think that Cole possesses
the psychic ability

to manipulate sounds
and images,

to generate illusions that are
so convincing they can kill.

How's that for a theory?

Puts a whole new spin
on virtual reality,

but at least it begins
to explain some things.

Agent Mulder?

See this car
in the upper right corner?

Yeah.

It wasn't there
five minutes ago.

Where is this?

That's track 17.

It's a restricted
part of the yard.

What are you doing?

This is insane.

You can't do this to me.

You can't hold me
responsible.

I was following orders,
just like you.

The Lord hates
a lying tongue.

It's the truth!

The truth is what
you did to us--

what you made us do.

No one made you do anything.

You volunteered.

The righteous shall rejoice
when he sees the vengeance.

Who is it?

Who's there?

He shall wash his feet in
the blood of the wicked.

Who is it?

I can't see without my glasses.

You don't need to see
to know who it is.

You know who it is!

No.

He shall pay

as the judges determine.

He shall give
life for life,

eye for eye,

tooth for tooth,
hand for hand...

- No.
- ...foot for foot, burn for burn,

wound for wound,

stripe for stripe.

As he has disfigured a man,

so shall he be
disfigured.

And he who kills a man

shall be put to death.

He's still alive.

Put pressure on the wound
on the back of his neck

and radio for help.

Now!

Uh, this is Agent Krycek
requesting emergency assistance!

My location is track 17
in the freight warehouse!

Step away
from the edge.

Corporal Cole,
I'm a federal agent.

Now, please step back.

Go ahead.

Shoot me.

That's not why I came up here.

I'm putting down my gun.

Just want to talk to you
for a few minutes.

After that, you're free
to do whatever you want.

I'm tired.

I know.

No, man, you don't know.

You have no idea!

One minute is all I'm asking.

One minute's more than
I care to give.

Blood's boiling in my veins.

I can feel the air
stinging on my skin!

What the military did to you
was wrong,

but maybe your testimony
can help.

They cut out
a piece of my brain.

They made me
into somebody else.

I can never get back
what they took away from me,

but I can stop them
from taking anything more.

Krycek, put down the gun
and get out of here.

Krycek, I said

put down the gun

and get out of here!

No!

Good... night.

He had a gun.

He was gonna shoot you.

You did the right thing.

They broke into my office,

went through my files,
my computer.

I came down as soon
as security called,

but the report
was already gone.

Someone went to
a lot of trouble

stealing both our copies
to keep this a secret.

I know.

You know, without
that report as evidence,

Skinner's not gonna
authorize an investigation.

He said it's never
been more dangerous.

Skinner?

That man who leaked
us the report--

the one who's been
helping us.

You actually met
with him?

He said that closing
down the X Files

was just the beginning,

that we've never been
in greater danger.

Do you trust him?

Do you know
where he got this?

Not yet. But he got it.

Which means he's either
found another source,

or another source
has found him.

Sir, if I can
recommend something.

You'll see that I've outlined
several countermeasures.

What about Scully?

Reassigning them
to other sections

seems only to have strengthened
their determination.

Scully's a problem--

a much larger problem
than you described.

Every problem has a solution.

I made this!